Refrigerating apparatus



May 25, 1943. 1.. A. PHILIPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 19403 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR. 26 LQWfE/(Cfi ,7, PI-(lL/PP a I ATTORNEY.-

May 25,1943. L. A. PHILIPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16', 19403 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Lqmrzqcz l7. P/(ILIPP 41.1lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ub fi t/b1 C, [14 4/ ATTORNEY.

May 25, 1943.

L A. PHILIPP BEFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR. Lewes/ c1: P/fILIPP BY 2 a ATTORNEY.

Patented May 25, 1943 i REFRIGERATIN G APPARATUS Lawrence A. 'PhiliDlI,Detroit, Micln, assignor to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich,a

corporation of Maryland Application November 16, 1940, Serial No.365,965 9 2 Claims. (C1

The present invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and moreparticularly to such apparatus as is employed for maintaining multipletemperatures.

It is an object of the present invention to provide in a refrigerator acompartment for forced circulation of air through a cooling zoneincluding a finned cooling unit and a motor driven fan for circulatingthe air over the cooling unit, and a refrigerated freezing sectionformed as a unitary structure adjacent to the cooling zone.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such astructure in a refrigerator having a freezing chamber and a coolingchamber formed with the top wall of the food storage compartment, thestructure being spaced from the front and rear wall of the compartment,and a motor driven fan for circulating the air upwardly along the frontwall of the food storage compartment across the cooling coils in thecooling chamber to be deflected and diffused by the rear wall throughoutthe food storage compartment.

The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and itsmethod of operation, together with additional objects and advantagesthereof, will best be understood from the following description ofspecific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which;

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the invention with parts brokenaway and parts shown in section, and attached to a refrigerator shown infragmentary cross-section:

Fig. 2 is a side elevatlonal view of the invention embodied in arefrigerator shown in fragmentary cross-section;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig, 1; I

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1 arrangedin a refrigerator system shown schematically;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along l line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is afragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig.2:

Shown in the drawings is a refrigerator cabinet 20 with a food storagecompartment having an opening 22 closed by a swingably mounted 462-102)bottom wall as, end walls '31, and a front wall as secured b bolts andnuts to the end walls. The

. end walls 3'! are secured by bolts and nuts 40 to the underside of thetop wall 42 of liner 2| which forms the top wall of the chamber 30. Thecasing 29 has no rear wall so that the chamber 30 i is in opencommunication with the food storage door 23. The cabinet 20 comprises aninner liner 24 spaced from the outer wall or shell 25 between which isplaced suitable heat insulation material 26. The liner 24 forms thewalls of the compartment 2|. The cabinet 20may also be provided with amachine compartment (not shown) wherein would be mountedcompressor-condenser unit 28 of a refrigerator system connected to thecooling unit 21 secured in compartment 90, The unit 21 comprises casing29 forming cooling chamber 30, and a casing 32 forming a freeztube 12.

compartment 22-. a

The casing 32 is formed with bottom, end, front and rear wall, and isattached by screws 45 passing through the inwardly turned flange 46 ofend wall "to the bottom wall 36 of casing 29. The front wall of casing32 is provided with an opening 49 closed by door 50 which is hingedlysupportedon pin 5| carried by bracket arms 52 in heat exchange relationto the underside of shelf 54.

The front wall 39 has an opening .58 formed by flaring outwardly themetal to provide a circular shell within which is set a fan 59 operatedby an electric motor 60. The motor 60 is supported by the stand 62adjustably secured on a base 63 welded to the bottom wall 36.

Extending longitudinally across the chamber 39 is a cooling coilassembly 65 which includes a refrigerant coil 66 supported betweenchannel shaped frame members 61. The frame members 61 extend. verticallyin' the'chamber 30 and are bolted to a respective end wall 31. Fins 19are thermally bonded to the conduits 66.

The outlet end of cooling coil 66 is connected to the inlet end of thecoiled conduit 59 under freezer shelf 54 by a small diameter orrestrictor The outlet end of conduit 56 is connected to conduit 13 whose,opposite end terminates within a tank or accumulator I4. Theaccumulator 14 is secured by bracket I5 ,to an end.

of compressor-condenser unit 29. The outlet end of the motor-compressorunit is connected to condenser 9| which in turn is connected at itsbottom outlet to the inlet end of coil 99 by a small diameter capillaryconduit ,92.

By the operation of the fan 59 the air in the food storage compartmentis drawn at a high velocity upwardly along the forward section of thecompartment adjacent the door 29, through the opening 58, and into thecooling chamber 30 passing across the cooling coil 85. The cooled air isforced, from the chamber 96, through the rear opening of casing 29 intothe compartment 2| to flow along the rear-wall to be evenly diffusedthroughout the food storage compartment.

The partially'vaporized refrigerant in coil 56 is metered throughrestrictor tube 12 into the coil 56 so as to maintain a relatively lowerpressure in coil 56 than coil 66. The coil 66 is maintained at 'arelatively high pressure to provide a correspondingly high temperatureso as .to cool the circulating air and avoid freezing the moisture whichtends to condense from the circulating air upon the fins of the coil 66.The pressure in coil into condenser 9| to be condensed. The con-' densedliquid refrigerant is conveyed and metered through the capillary tube 92to coil 66. The flow of the refrigerant is solely regulated to the coils66 and 56 by the capillary tube 92 and restrictor tube 12. The capillarytube '92 is in heat exchange relation with the retum vapor conduit 11for further cooling of the refrigerant; flowing to a coil 06.

A heat responsive device is provided for con trolling the intermittentoperation of the motorcompressor unit 90, and comprises a bulb Iconnected by tube I02 to a pressure responsive switch mechanism I04. Thebulb I00 is clamped in thermal relation to the frame 61 of cooling coil66. The switch mechanism I04 is interposed in an electrical circuit (notshown) supplying electrical current for the operation of themotorcompressor unit 90. The bulb I00 is filled with fluid whosepressure varies correspondingly to temperature change effected tooperate the opening and closing of the switch mechanism I04 to start 'orstop the operation of the motor-compressor unit 00 for supplyingrefrigerant to the cooling unit to maintain the circulating air at adesired temperature value.

A manually operated electrical switch III! is mounted on the front panel39 to control the operatlon of the motor and fan 59. Preferably, the fanis of continuous operation, though, if desired, it may be controlled tooperate intermittently with the motor-compressor unit 00 by the switchI04.

A drain pan I20 extends beneath the cooling coil 88 and issupportinglysecured to the end walls 31. Moisture from the .circulatingair, which has condensed on the coil 00, is collected is circulated at ahigh velocity over the cooling coil 50 to drain from the freezingchamber into the pan I35. The water is drained from pan I throughconduit I81 into conduit I22.

By this arrangement there is thus provided an evaporator coiloperatedat; relatively low temperature for freezing substances, and asecond evaporator coil maintained at a relatively high temperature forcooling the air of a food storage compartment. The desired degree ofrefrigeration is obtained'from the cooling unit operated at asufiicientiy high temperature in that the al r unit so that thetemperature of the air in the food storage compartment is maintainedsub-' stantially uniform in all positions in the compartment. Further,it avoids freezing moisture condensed from the circulating air. As themoisture is not frozen out of the air as frost, a portion .of it returnsto the circulating air and its humidity is substantially maintained. Theoptimum c'ondition is thus substantially maintained for preservingfoodin the storage compartment and the severe dehydration of the foodproducts avoided.

While I have described the preferred forms of my invention, I do notwish to limit myself to the precise details as shown and described, butwish to avail myself of such variations and modifications as may comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: v1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising in combination'a cabinethaving a food storage comin the'pan I20 from which it is drained through65, washers or spacers I30 of heat insulation material are interposedbetween the frame members 61- and end walls \31 to prevent cooling ofthe casing ,29 by heat conduction. Similarly, the freezing shelf 54 isspaced and insulated-from the side walls of casing 32 by spacers I32 ofheat insulation material. By this arrangement sweating of the side wallsof unit 21 is reduced to a minimum. Should some sweating occur, themoisture is collected in a drain pan I35 suspended beneath the bottom ofcasing 32. The drain pan I35 extends beyond the side walls of the unit21 and is supportingly secured to the casing 32. An opening I30 in thebottom wall of casing 32 permits the drainage of the moisture defrostedfrom partment, an enclosure member secured within said compartment inspacial relation to front and rear well thereof enclosing an air coolingzone and a low temperature zone, heat absorbing means including aportion positioned in said low temperature zone for maintaining lowtemperatures in said low temperature zone, and a portion in said aircooling zone for cooling the circulating air as it passes throughsaidair cooling zone, means interconnecting said portions to control theflow of refrigerant therethrough to maintain a relatively lowtemperature in the first mentioned portion for freezing substances and arelatively high temperature in the second mentioned portion for coolingcirculating air, and a fan for directing the flow of air from adjacentthe front wall of said compartment through said air cooling zone andalong the rear wall of said food storage comparment.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising, in combination, a cabinet havinga food storage compartment, a sheet metal housing within saidcompartment having an air cooling compartment and a low temperaturecompartment separated by a horizontal sheet metal partition, heatabsorbing.

interconnecting said portions to control the flow of refrigeranttherethrou'gh to maintain a relatively low temperature in the firstmentioned portion for freezing substances and a relatively hightemperature in the second mentioned portion for cooling circulating air.

LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP.

